Duncan Wyatt is an internationally revered voice within the mineral course of engineering and expertise enviornment. Presently crucial minerals and hydrometallurgical options director at Metso, he’ll carry precious insights to discussions about sustainable processing of crucial minerals and battery metals to this month’s IMARC in Sydney.
Richard Roberts, Mining Beacon editor, caught up with him forward of the occasion.
Richard Roberts: You’ve been across the mineral processing business for greater than 30 years, beginning in Tasmania (Renison tin), then South Australia (Geologics) earlier than plus-20 years with Outotec in Australia and Canada. Now Metso for the previous 4 years in Perth. Have you ever seen sufficient of the world, or do you continue to benefit from the journey a part of working in mining?
Duncan Wyatt: Once I first left Tasmania the journey facet was actually very interesting. I’ve been lucky to have visited too many international locations to depend and each continent besides Antarctica, though I did contemplate a one-year break to work on an Antarctic analysis venture aligned with Tasmanian College earlier than I moved to South Australia.
Greater than the journey it has been the individuals I’ve met at numerous mine websites and firms which have been the spotlight. The Australian mining sector may be very massive however inside it there are numerous linked communities and proficient individuals.
Richard Roberts: Talking of change, Australia has develop into the worldwide provide hub for lithium minerals in recent times. What have been essentially the most important, or impactful, adjustments you’ve seen within the lithium and associated processing arenas?
Duncan Wyatt: Sure, it has been a profound and fast change. I used to be concerned with mineral processing initiatives at each Greenbushes and Wodgina within the mid-90s however at the moment tin and tantalum had been the goal minerals and spodumene was both rejected or much less commercially viable.
Nonetheless, the surge in private digital gadgets which oddly sufficient drove the demand for tin and tantalum additionally created the impetus for lithium utilization to develop into widespread. Beginning in 1985 with the event by Akira Yoshino, a Japanese chemist, of the primary lithium battery expertise, Sony started commercialisation for its vary of merchandise.
By the Nineties Greenbushes had begun supplying lithium to China for the manufacturing of lithium hydroxide for batteries. It’s the newest surge in client demand that has pushed the latest developments, with EV automobiles requiring an order of magnitude bigger lithium battery than the private digital gadgets that began the business.
Now battery-grade lithium hydroxide is produced right here in Western Australia utilizing native spodumene as a lithium supply. Metso has been on the forefront of optimising the downstream processing of spodumene to lithium hydroxide. The Metso leach course of is environmentally sustainable: acid and sulphate free, with out undesired crystallised salts or by-products, producing inert and impartial mineral residue for re-use or disposal.
Richard Roberts: On the very topical battery supplies/black mass recycling – or city mining – entrance, what has most caught your consideration, by way of expertise growth, market developments, and many others, up to now 2-3 years, and why?
Duncan Wyatt: Recycling of lithium batteries is an rising area which has struggled for a industrial foundation as a result of quite a few components. Feedstock high quality and variability, in addition to future developments for various lithium battery chemistries that might require different recycling course of routes, have made this course of difficult.
Within the Asia Pacific area a number of firms in South Korea and China are utilising manufacturing scrap, which is materials that has not made it via the rigorous EV lithium battery manufacturing course of, as their most important supply of feed. These firms are sometimes EV producers or strategically linked, with amenities native to their companion.
Metso applied sciences for solvent extraction, which play a key function within the recycling of black mass, are starting to penetrate the processing area as a result of their extremely environment friendly unit processes and based mostly off our know-how within the area, which is centred round our R&D group in Pori, Finland. Our latest work with battery-grade nickel, cobalt and manganese producers has diminished recycling, MHP, or nickel matte processing levels from over 100 to between 20-30 utilizing Metso applied sciences and know-how.
This development away from conventional native processing designs and fundamental tools is pushed by industrial realities, specializing in whole value of possession, together with plant footprint, energy and companies necessities in addition to operational prices. Complicated processing amenities with too many processing levels additionally require costly solvent extraction chemical substances.
Richard Roberts: Battery black mass recycling is shortly rising as a significant course of for the long run. “That is such a fast-moving area that it’s arduous to foretell the long run,” says Metso’s Madeleine Scheidema. What kind of challenges/alternatives does this fee of change current?
Duncan Wyatt: The quickly altering panorama of battery chemistry means we should be agile to fulfill the market wants and particularly these of our purchasers each new and current. The problem is to deal with the problems at hand whereas continually trying to future developments to make sure our know-how and capabilities lead the sector.
Richard Roberts: Metso clearly inherited some applied sciences and course of know-how via its merger with Outotec. Is it honest to say a few of this tech/know-how has elevated in worth – given the vary/weight of functions – and continues to develop in worth?
Duncan Wyatt: Actually, as a substitute for smelting, hydrometallurgical processing could be an choice. Metso’s hydrometallurgical know-how in stress leaching utilizing proprietary autoclave designs in addition to BIOX based mostly leaching processes are main the way in which in processing of each advanced gold and copper deposits in addition to historic tailings deposits.
Downstream, our solvent extraction applied sciences and processing design capabilities are driving our entry into the companies which can be central to the vitality transition and EV manufacturing, in addition to base metals functions for copper, nickel, cobalt and zinc. We hope our current purchasers can profit from these developments and that our new purchasers, aiming to remain aggressive within the round vitality transition economic system, additionally profit. With our objective to allow sustainable fashionable life, we purpose to create options to speed up sustainability within the industries we function in.
Richard Roberts: What has occurred to pilot and different testing ranges at Pori and different Metso amenities – particularly in these alkaline leach course of, lithium hydroxide course of and mineral/metallic recycling areas – over the previous, say, 5 years?
Duncan Wyatt: As I stated, our know-how in Pori is paramount to each our capacity to develop novel processes for these many new downstream processing routes key to battery manufacturing and recycling, in addition to utilisation of extra advanced base and valuable metallic ore our bodies. Our bench-scale and piloting amenities give us an nice aggressive benefit. One space the place that is illustrated is within the new demonstration scale pilot plant to help Metso’s new pCAM Reactor and related plant. The manufacturing of NCM [nickel, cobalt and manganese) based mostly cathodes for lithium-based EV batteries make up about 50% of the world’s lithium battery necessities.
Metso has developed a proprietary reactor and related course of that we consider supplies a extra sustainable route to provide these key pre-cursor supplies for the cathode manufacturing course of.
Our demonstration scale plant at Pori allows purchasers creating vegetation worldwide to trial chemistries and pCAM product specs to help commercialisation, figuring out that Metso will stay their processing companion via idea demonstration, monetary funding determination and venture execution.
Richard Roberts: How a lot exercise are you seeing within the subsequent few years?
Duncan Wyatt: Exercise in copper and gold is forecast to be excessive, with battery materials lifting by the top of 2028. At Metso our exercise stage is all the time excessive. The venture cycle is critical for a lot of of those new course of routes and related initiatives – a number of work is ongoing with testing, research and plant designs.
Richard Roberts: The place, geographically, are you seeing excessive, or rising, ranges of exercise? Are the drivers the identical or completely different?
Duncan Wyatt: The adoption of EV automobiles within the Asia Pacific area is main the world, with international locations like Thailand seeing extraordinary acceleration in take-up charges. We all know that this fee of adoption will gasoline native curiosity in battery supplies and recycling, and we’re dedicated to supply our companies in these areas the place demand presents.
Richard Roberts: Clearly upfront value/lifecycle prices are going to have an effect on adoption charges, however what’s separating the main applied sciences out there immediately from a design/efficiency perspective?
Duncan Wyatt: While many are eager to enter the market, we’ve got seen some firms make missteps both in underestimating the demanding necessities to provide battery grade end-products, or within the prices to execute initiatives and ramp them as much as produce end-products compliant with the demanding specs of the business.
Trying solely on the upfront or “tools prices” in isolation undervalues the presence of a serious companion throughout the course of growth, implementation and optimisation levels of any venture. Metso’s international footprint, sources and know-how hopefully present the worth proposition that can see us companion with many on this important market sector within the close to time period and for a few years to return.
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